Guardian From The Evening Star
by Princess Selina
Summary: The connection between the planet Venus and the kingdom of the Moon was one known to few, the crown princesses, who were guardian and ward to each other, were always born as near duplicates so the Moon Princess would always be protected. And even when reincarnated, they were rarely without each other, Mina and Serena were reborn as cousins, so she could always protect her.
1. Orbit

Chapter One:Orbit

_Well before the modern people of Earth existed, a time long before they believe the first life on Earth started, there was a time when the Terrans of Earth reined supreme. Their planet was small, especially in consideration to the larger planets beyond the asteroid belt, but even smaller was their reach to the outer world. The world that in comparison to themselves, was extremely advanced and strange. A world that flourished in peace compared to the wars that seemed necessary to resolve conflicts and achieve power among their people, they lived in ignorant bliss, and perhaps if that had remained that way, it wouldn't have been necessary for the world to begin anew._

_This ignorance came from a time long before the beginning of the Silver Millennium. The only place of true life had once been the Sun, the beautiful kingdom of Solaria was as pretty as a picture but had more cracks then a shattered glass, which when it truly broke, it nearly irradiated its people. Among the last left was the wise, beauty Selene, who had been protected from the downfall by an amulet called the Silver Crystal, and had protected those dear to her through it. Together the ten individuals remaining wandered the scattered universe, each coming to rest in a different place, believing it to be a the definition of true beauty and tranquillity, and as they gave their hearts to the planets, the planets themselves responded. _

_From Hermes came the race of Mercurians, a race of scholars, all of logic and sound minds who believed in ingenuity and discussion. From Aphrodite came the race of Venusians, a race of free love, free speech and open minds, who could find the beauty in the smallest things, and lived singing a song of freedom and no regrets. From Ares came the race of Martians, a race of proud warriors who would never be swayed, stubborn, loyal and passionate to a fault, and although restless and finding lessons unable to be spoken in words through battle, they continued to keep the peace as wardens and guards. The proud Zeus created the race of Jovians on his beloved planet of Jupiter, a race of proud, fearless people, a race of courage and strong will who wouldn't give up till their last breath. Coronos, Uranus, Poseidon and Hades would move to the outer planets, creating the races of Saturnalians, Uranians, Neptunians and Plutonians, each race more mysterious then the next, but it was how the population of Earth came to be which was a true legend._

_Among those who had fled from the ruins of Solaria, came an old woman, the great Gaia, a powerful sorceress who once separated from the sun, became greatly ill. And by the time the travelers came to rest on the planet later known as Earth, she had died, they buried her among the great trees and flowers of the planet, and filled with grief they moved on. But unbeknownst to them, Gaia's powerful star seed bonded with the Earth, and from her ashes rose a people, a great people that without someone to lead them began to fight and war with one another, unknown to the other planets. And even as Selene returned to the moon, as a place to rule her own people, blessed by the Silver Crystal, as the ruler of all the kingdoms within the Solar System, she remained unknowing to the turmoil raging far below her on the planet she circled._

_Millennia passed, and the Silver Alliance flourished in a time of eternal peace, but everything began to change when the people of Earth became aware they were not alone, and the people of the Silver Alliance realised that Earth wasn't as empty of life as they thought. And it only grew worse when the romance between the Prince of Earth and the Princess of the Moon was revealed, the tension of disapproval on the still unstable coexistence of the two worlds came to breaking point. But when the Royal Terran Family pledged to their fragile nation that through the soon to come marriage, they would be joining the Silver Alliance under the rule of Queen Serenity; it was what caused the chaos that soon would destroy them._

_Many Terrans were furious with their planets union to the people they believed to be aliens, none more so then the former fiancé of Prince Endymion, Lady Beryl. Whose great fury and hatred of Princess Serenity left her weak and corruptible to the greatest evil in existence. For there had been one person who had survived the destruction of Solaria, whose isolation for millennia had left her growing in power, and hating those who had not taken her with them, and desperate to gain her revenge. A woman who had turned into nothing more than a spirit of anger and destruction, Metalia._

_Metalia through Beryl controlled her into using her political status to rise the people against the Terran Royal Family, slowly destroying the Earth, forcing Endymion to flee to the moon, which only increased Beryl's rage further seeing him take sanctuary with his beloved Moon Princess. With all the power of Metalia running through her, she attacked the Lunarian Kingdom, destroying it and killing everyone, only repelled when Queen Serenity used the power of the Great Silver Crystal, passed down through the generations since Selene to repel Beryl and Metalia, sending them back to the sun and trapping them in a vault of darkness, the power disrupting the balance of the Solar System to the point that all life was irradiated. And with the last of her strength, she sent the the descendants of Solaria to the planet Earth, where they would wait to be reincarnated._

_And that is where our story begins..._

...

'Oh no I'm late for school again! Why did no one wake me up?! Mum! Mum! Why didn't you wake me up?!'

A girl of short stature ran through the corridors of a two story terrace building in the heart of Tokyo. Running so fast that one of the long blonde pigtails that trailed behind her almost got caught in the bathroom door as she slammed it closed. She was out in two minutes flat, toothpaste foam still around her mouth, now fully dressed in a blue and white school uniform with a thick collar and a bright red bow on the shirt. She wiped her mouth as she ran downstairs, sticking her head under the tap as she ran into the kitchen, rinsing in the sink as she looked at her mother.

'Why didn't you wake me up in time for the first bell?!'

'I did Serena darling, three times, and each time you said you were getting up right away,' her mother sighed flipping through the pages of a magazine, with a very clear "I'm not driving you" look on her face.

'And you believed me?!' she demanded vaguely fixing one of her lopsided buns.

'Serena!'

'I gotta go!' she yelled as she ran towards the door.

'Serena, aren't you forgetting something?!' her mother called sounding half amused half exasperated.

'What?' she asked turning around, and as her mother held up her lunch bag she blanched slightly and grabbed it from her hand, 'Oh yeah, thanks mum... I gotta go! I'm _so_ late!'

And pulling on her shoes quickly and grabbing her school bag, she bolted out the door, leaving her mother shaking her head softly to herself, 'I really should have emphasized being on time from an earlier age, maybe if I get her a pet it'll make her more responsible-'

The house phone went off and she looked up, before picking it up tiredly, 'Tsukino residence.'

'Ikuko, guess who?' laughed a voice on the other end of the line.

'Kimiko! Sis, how are you? How's England?'

Ikuko's identical twin sister Kimiko for the last year and a half had been living in London, her husband who was a university professor had been asked to consult on a movie that included a great deal of reference to Ancient Japanese culture. So he'd taken a sabbatical from his job and taken Kimiko and their daughter to England. She could still remember saying good bye to her at the airport, both of them had been crying and clutching at each other, while their daughters, who were of the same age, babbled in excitement beside them.

'Oh, eventful, it always is, but it does feel good to speak some Japanese, I can never see to get my mouth around some English words, or my head around their phrases either,' Kimiko laughed happily.

'You can't be any worse than your daughter, any phrase in any language is not safe from her misuse,' Ikuko reminded.

'...You have a point, I really need to work on that with her...'

'Don't worry about it Kimi, both our daughters have their quirks which I fear we will never work out of them,' Ikuko laughed loudly, 'So why the call? You said it was a pain on the phone bills and it was easier to just e-mail each other.'

'Oh it's actually about the little one... you see, she said she's being having problems at school, that her grades are slipping because she is having trouble paying attention to the English and that some girls, not that she'll say who, have begun to pick on her.'

'Oh the poor dear! Is she okay?'

'She keeps saying that she just wants to go home, we've been over here for the last year or so, I guess she's just crumbling under pressure, and she hasn't seemed quite herself for a while. She keeps disappearing at odd times, she gets home really late for no reason, and every time I ask what she's been doing when she goes to hang out with her friends, she only gives me vague answers. I really am worried about her!'

'Is there anything I can do Kimi?' Ikuko asked, seeming extremely worried.

'The thing is, we've got the house we rent paid up for the next three months, and Katashi's sabbatical isn't up until then either and he really is enjoying his work right now, and I know she wouldn't want him to give it up for her sake, she is stubborn like that. And the fact he got her a job as an extra in one of the films he was consulting on probably only increases that for her. It's just... I was hoping if it would be all possible for her to come back to Japan and stay with you for a few months. I know it's a big ask but-'

Ikuko however merely laughed at her sisters awkwardness before saying quite calmly, interrupting her as she dodged around the matter, 'So when does Mina arrive?'

...

'I am going to be so incredibly late, this is a nightmare!' Serena growled to herself, bolting down the main road to her school, 'Why can't I ever be on time?-'

'Hold it still!'

'Hold it down!'

'Open its mouth, I want to feel its tongue!'

Serena looked around to see a bunch of little terrors crowded around something that was flailing and trying to get away desperately, 'Oi!' she yelled, 'Leave that poor cat alone!'

The little brats ran off as she ran towards them, all clearly not wanting to get in trouble, Serena knew she could chase them, but it was more important to make sure the cat was okay. Moving closer to see the rather beat up looking cat sprawled on the ground. The kids really went at it trying to hurt the poor little thing. Its black fur was clearly once shiny, but now it was covered in dust from the asphalt, while its large, dark red eyes filled with fear. For some reason it had a rather ratty looking bandaid plastered across its forehead, and as Serena gasped in concern, she bent to pick it up.

'Poor Kitty, are you okay? Did those little brats hurt you?' she crooned, 'Now let's get this bandaid off your little head.'

Serena began pulling at the bandaid and the cat looked a little alarmed, she knew she must be pulling off quite a bit of hair with it but she just took a deep breath for the kitties sake and did it all in one go. She could have sworn she saw a slight flash of light as she ripped it away, but the moment she did, the cat backflipped out of her arms and somehow ended up standing on the room of a car nearby. She was completely stunned, especially when she noticed that on the cat's forehead was a bright yellow crescent moon mark.

'Hey it's okay kitty I'm not going to hurt- Oh no! I'm going to be so majorly late!' she realised as she heard the sound of the final bell going off at her school, before hightailing it out of there, running like a maniac, pigtails streaming behind her.

In her hurry, she didn't notice the cat watch her leave, tilt its head on the side looking curious, before asking herself, quite aloud, and quite humanly, 'Could _she _be the one?'

...

'Mum, Dad, I'm going to go to bed now, I know it's pretty late, but I just need to know where you've put my sport kit, I can't seem to find it- You two look pretty serious...'

Mina looked at both her parents, concern lighting her face, they'd been talking in very low voices when she'd come downstairs and she hadn't really seemed to notice until this moment. Her brow furrowed slightly as both parents glanced at each other, before she frowned to herself and walked down the stairs, still in her bright pink pajamas, clearly ready for bed.

'What's going on?' she asked in concern.

'You see hun... it's just that... We've been a little worried about you lately, especially seeing as you've been wanting to go back to Japan so badly-' her mother began.

'Oh I'm so sorry for complaining, I don't want to do anything that'll make you guys upset-' Mina began babbling but her father calmly cut her off.

'Look sweetheart, we know how much you want to go home, but there are still a lot of things your mother and I need to finish up here,' he told her, but as he drew breath to start the next sentence, Mina spoke again.

'I really do understand Dad, no need to worry.'

'Mina, your mother and I have been talking about an alternative lately, and we thought that if you wanted, and we've already talked to them about this, if you wanted to, you could go back to Japan and live with your Aunt Ikuko and Uncle Kenji until your mother and I are done here,' her father explained.

Mina looked between her parents, a look of complete bliss coming across her face, 'Really Dad? Really Mum? You'd let me do that?'

'Yes, Ikuko said she'd be happy to take you in,' Mina's mother said smiling, 'Do you want to go?'

'Yes!' Mina blurted out, before realising she may have spoken to quickly and hastily backtracking, 'Yes, I really would like to go home. I love you guys so much but I feel like I'm definitely more comfortable in Japan.'

'We thought so Mina, we'll book you a flight back to Tokyo as soon as we can, you don't have to go to school tomorrow so you can pack, depending on what flight we can book, but you might want to go at lunch at some point and tell your friends whats happening,' her mother said seeming equal parts sad and happy.

'I will, thanks so much mum and dad,' Mina said hugging them tightly, a smile spreading over her face, 'Thanks so much... Can I take Artemus?'

'Of course, we know he'll make you feel better being without us,' her father said quietly.

'Thank you!' Mina said hugging them even tighter, '... I think I should go back upstairs, it's going to take me a while to get to sleep with this much going on.'

'Of course Mina, sweet dreams,' her mother said softly as she watched her daughter ascend the steps, but the moment she was gone she said to her husband, 'I'm going to miss her so much Katashi.'

'I know Kimi, but it's what's best for her, you know that Ikuko and Kenji will take good care of her, and of course she'll have Serena to talk to,' he said softly kissing her on the forehead.

'I just don't know how I'll be able to take three months without my little girl. How she'll be without me-'

'Mina's strong, she'll be okay, you can be sure of that.'


	2. Where All Chaos Lies

Chapter 2:Where All Chaos Lies

Serena sat in class, half asleep at her desk, only not snoring, sprawled all over her desk because Molly was sitting beside her yanking the tail of one of her odangos every time her head drooped for longer then ten seconds. It was a method they'd devised during the forth grade for days when their teachers were in particularly bad moods. And that was a mood Miss Haruna definitely was in today, from what she'd vaguely gotten from Melvin during the morning break, her boyfriend of a whole two months, which must have been a record for Miss Haruna, had broken up with her via text this morning. Therefore, she was in such a vicious mood that if she fell asleep she'd have a detention every day for the next month.

That was when every one heard a slight bang against the window and everyone looked around, much against their better nature to avoid Miss Haruna's wrath, to see a cat standing on the small ledge outside the window. Serena knew instantly it was the cat from this morning, and she was completely stunned, what was it doing here? Had it followed her here? And if it did, why would it do that?

But Miss Haruna was far in the mood to deal with a cat disrupting her lesson and instantly snarled, 'Rotten cat! I'll go catch it and then I'm getting it sent to the pound!'

'But Miss-' the class began but it was all to clear that Miss H was not in a reasonable state of mind, and she stormed towards the door.

'If I catch anyone out of their seats when I get back it'll be detention for all of you for the next year!' she raged loudly, slamming the door behind her.

But the moment she was gone, Serena took one look at the cat on the window sill and just couldn't bare to see it go to the pound, she ran to the window and opened it, coaxing the cat inside, 'Serena, what are you doing?' Molly asked desperately, her thick Brooklyn accent clipping her words, 'You're gonna get in so much trouble if Miss Haruna sees you with that cat.'

'Well she's not going to,' Serena insisted stubbornly, as much to her own surprise, the cat jumped straight into her arms, and hastily she closed the window.

But even as Serena said this Molly's bright teal eyes clouded with fear, her pale skin constricting round her palms as she clenched them slightly to try to stop herself from showing her frustration at her best friend. She flicked back a section of her dark red hair, which still had some bits hanging loose despite the sea-green bow she had strung through it. And trying to keep her voice calm, she began to warn Serena;

'But Serena, we don't have anywhere to hide it!' Molly hissed, 'We can't put it in a cupboard or a bag-'

But Serena sat down in her seat, cat still in her lap, and much to everyone's surprise she pulled the buns out of her hair on both sides, and the long blonde locks fell to the floor from her sitting position. Slipping the many bobby pins and hair elastics into her pocket and then moving quickly as she spotted Miss Haruna outside through the window, she put the cat on her lap and piled her hair over the top of it.

'Serena what are you doing?' Melvin asked in his whiney voice, 'You're going to get in trouble-'

'Not unless someone says something Melvin!' Serena hissed, 'everyone sit down.'

'Oh Serena, you really are an animal lover,' Molly sighed, but when Miss Haruna stormed in the door she shut up instantly and everyone all deliberately looked away from Serena.

'Miss Tsukino, why is your hair out? You know the rules about having your hair that long, and that includes that you have it up at all times!' Miss Haruna snapped clearly looking for an excuse to yell at someone now that the cat was gone.

'My hair band snapped and I don't have a spare! Anything else I do with my hair isn't long enough to keep it off the ground, and if it does it takes about an hour to do, I can fix it at lunch I swear Miss Haruna!' Serena wailed sounding convincingly upset and into her classic "Serena lives in fear of first world problems" whine.

Miss Haruna's glare was hard enough to pierce through her skull, and Serena was forced to keep her puppy dog eyes going even as she felt the cat start trying to work its way out from underneath her extreme volumes of hair. And eventually Miss Haruna huffed turning away from her and going back to lecturing them on something, and Serena began stroking the cat under her hair to try to keep it calm, pushing its head back down under hair when it popped up trying to find out where it was.

By the time the lunch bell rang Serena could feel her legs bleeding slightly because the cat had gotten fed up with it's predicament and started scratching her to try to get out, and as she left the classroom, awkwardly trying not to look suspicious with the cat hidden under her hair, Miss Haruna shouted after her, 'If your hair isn't up by the time you get back here, you'll have detention for the next month!'

'Yes Miss Haruna!' she said hastily, half running out the door, and when she got outside, she practically had to drop the cat as it clawed against her arm, 'You are one lucky kitty.'

The cat looked at her defiantly and Serena could stop her need to talk to it, saying very matter-of-factly, 'If it wasn't for me you'd be in some pound right now, so you better get out of here before Miss Haruna comes along and makes kitty cereal out of you,'

Hearing her tone, the cat ran off and Serena sighed to herself impatiently as she walked over to Molly and a few of her other friends, 'Can some one help me with my hair? If I go in there with my usual hairstyle Miss H will get suspicious, I'll be lucky if she's not going to scorch me anyway, you must heard her when she said she was going to give back the test results after lunch.'

'Sure thing Serena,' Molly chirped looking excited, 'I never realised how long your hair was.'

'Why do you think I have to keep it up so much?'

'Have you ever cut it?' Kuri asked, starting to brush through Serena's hair with her fingers.

'No actually, never really had to, for some reason it just doesn't stop growing, and it never really seems to need a cut,' Serena admitted.

'Cool. It was really nice how you helped that cat before Serena, I wish I'd thought of something,' Molly laughed, 'Sorry about doubting you, just in the moment I really didn't think that anything could distract Miss H.'

'It was a good thought at the time, but really that ungrateful little cat scratched and bit me, I'm so lucky that none of these cuts are to bad.'

'Yeah, that and the cat doesn't have rabies,' Yumiko laughed.

'Shut up!' Serena groaned, 'You're making it worse!'

'Relax Serena, the cat's gone now, you won't have to see it again,' Molly assured, 'And if you start feeling sick just go to the nurse.'

'Thanks Mol, but that's what I thought about that cat this morning, that I'd never see it again, and well, I did.'

'That was the same cat you told me about?' Molly gasped.

'Yeah, it's kinda weird isn't it? Why would it follow me?' Serena asked.

Molly shrugged her shoulders before a mischievous spark glinted her eyes and then saying it deliberately because she knew it would get on Serena's nerves, she commented 'Who knows, but let's get your hair done for now, at least that way if you haven't done well on the test then Miss Haruna only has one thing to yell at you about.'

'Molly! Hey! Why are you being so mean to me? You're supposed to be my best friend!'

'Oh chill out Serena, you know I love ya.'

...

'Mina? Why do you look so deliriously happy? Did you somehow find first love eight thousand and sixty two while you were down there?' the small white cat asked from where he was curled up on the end of her bed.

'Get real Artemus,' Mina scoffed, 'But it worked, and you said there was no way I could convince my parents to let me go back to Japan early!'

'It worked? Your grumbling and complaining and lying actually worked?' he question sitting up, tilting his head sideways.

'You have so much faith in my acting abilities, don't you Artie?' Mina teased with mock indignation.

'I just wasn't aware you were a very good liar Mina,' he laughed, an almost gleam coming off the crescent mark on his forehead.

'Hey, I kept the secret of Sailor V quiet for nearly a year, I happen to be a very good liar, you just happen to know the right questions to ask me,' Mina teased.

'So to Tokyo we go huh? It is where the Dark Kingdom is most likely to strike next, the ancestral home of the Terran Royal Family, and the most likely location of the other Sailor Scouts-'

'I know Artemus, I know, everything is going to change now, and now I'm going to have to try to get away with being Sailor V even with Serena around. Which might not end well, she is notoriously nosey,' Mina laughed.

'That makes sense, seeing as you said she was just like you,' Artemus laughed as Mina turned off the light and sat down on her bed.

The pillow she threw at him was a clear indication she didn't want to talk about it anymore.

...

Miss Haruna wasn't back from the staffroom yet so Serena was talking Yumiko, Kuri and Molly, they were all obsessing over the announcement that there was going to be a Sailor V movie, Melvin was there to but he was more so butting in on the conversation. There had already been several animated ones but this one was going to be one with real people, and seeing as Sailor V was known world wide, there'd been a global bidding war on its rights, and it was going to end up being produced in Japan! They were holding casting auditions all over the country and they were also going to write in a back story, make up a life outside of her fighting as Sailor V and make it into a whole secret identity thing. Everyone was ecstatic to hear about it, and they were all desperate to get the chance to audition, the chance would be amazing! They all hero worshipped Sailor V!

'She's so amazing!' Kuri trilled, 'She's pretty and smart and she always knows what to do! I wish we had someone like Sailor V around!'

'Really? You want us to be constantly attacked by evil people who drain all of our energy out of us?!' Melvin asked in his usual whiney voice.

'To have someone like Sailor V around? Duh!' Molly remarked, laughing like he was an idiot for not knowing that.

'It would be so amazing to get a roll in that movie! The costume would be so awesome!' Yumiko babbled excitedly, 'And all the fame and fortune that comes with it!'

'It so totally would, hey did you also hear there's a new Sailor V video game? I saw it on TV!' Serena asked ecstatically but suddenly here was a bang of the door closing behind her and a voice clearly directed at her began spitting out harshly;

'Serena! You need more studying and less TV! There isn't any excuse for failing this exam!' Miss Haruna barked.

And in front of the entire class, Miss Haruna pulled out a bundle of papers with red pen scribbling out half the answers. And then very, very obviously there was the bright red, circled and underlined number thirty at the top of the page. Serena pulled it out of her hand, confusion written all over her face.

'I failed?' she asked in surprise, 'How can that be?'

'Have your mother sign this and return it to me,' Miss Haruna said insistently, before she began handing out papers to the rest of the class.

'...Mum is going to kill me.'

...

As Mina walked home from her school, she was filled with both sadness and relief, she didn't want to say goodbye to Hikaru, she'd been her best friend while she was over here, and she'd been the one that helped her when she was struggling with English, the only one who'd stop and put it into simpler words for her when she was giving her a "I have no idea what you're talking about but maybe if I just smile and laugh it might seem like I've got it." She was perfectly fine with her English now, not that she could tell her parents that, she'd used the language barrier as part of her elaborate story on why she wanted to go home.

She flicked some of her ridiculously long blonde hair back out of her eyes, she'd lost her bow in her last fight as Sailor V, she really didn't know how she'd dealt with it always in her face beforehand. She hadn't been able to find the perfect ribbon since, none of the ones she'd tried had felt right. So now she was left with all of it flopping back in her face, and it was annoying the hell out of her.

She couldn't help but think back to her last battle... that was when she had lost Ace. He'd helped her so much and then, all of a sudden he revealed he'd been from the Dark Agency the entire time... admittedly he had told her that he loved her, but he also had told her that she was destined to fail in love for the rest of her life, it just wasn't fair. She was descended from Aphrodite and yet somehow she was going to end up an old spinster!

Part of her was praying that he was wrong, that he'd overlooked something or someone, or there was some sort of double meaning in the phrase, "you will never have the love you dream of." Well that did sound pretty final and blunt and admittedly he'd never been exactly wrong in his predictions, but at the same time she just felt it wasn't right for anyone to live a life without love, it wasn't fair for anyone with good in their hearts to live without love. It just wasn't right.

Losing Ace was another reason why she felt she just had to leave England behind. Everywhere she went she'd see something that reminded her of Ace, or something that she wished she could have done with Ace. Every couple in love in this stupid place reminded her of what she she and Ace could have been, but never was going to be. A reminder that he was dead and long gone and never coming back.

Reaching into her pocket she clutched the Sailor V transformation pen in her pocket for support, something about it just made her feel almost a little bit better. but she couldn't help but remember how complicated it made her life. Because it had been one thing to be Sailor V, it was another thing entirely to be Sailor Venus. Just like it was one thing to be fighting the Dark Agency it was another to have to face the Dark Kingdom and knowing she was expected to without a second thought to die in the place of the Moon Princess, someone that she didn't even know, and only had hazy memories of from her past life.

Sighing to herself she brushed the hair out of her face, breathing deeply and continuing her walk home. She knew that to other people in the street she must have looked very strange, standing there in the middle of the sidewalk, looking at the ground, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. So with one final look around her she kept walking, knowing deep in her heart, that there was nothing left for her here.

...

'Aw, chill out Serena, it's just one lousy test, it's not like it's the end of the world or something!' Molly assured her as they sat at the edge of the school, Serena sitting on the edge of a flower bed, head on her knees.

'You don't get it Molly, if my mum finds out that I flunked that test, she'll ground me and cut my allowance and I won't get to play the new Sailor V game-' Serena began complaining, but her whining was cut off by the appearance of Melvin.

Melvin's glasses were so thick that it made his eyes appear swirled and blurry, distorting his face. He was short and kind of weedy, with extremely spiky brown hair, and his fair collection of freckles. His mouth was too big for his face almost and his nose was so tiny it was almost inexistent.

'Hey Serena, I heard about your test, do you want me to be your tutor?' he asked.

'About as much as a tooth ache,' Serena grumbled.

'You're such a dweeb Melvin,' Molly said off handedly, 'She doesn't need a tutor she needs a trip to the mall to get her mind off this! Tell your mum you're at my house studying!'

Melvin looked appalled at this idea even as Serena looked up for the first time, 'You're going shopping? What's more important then your grades? Look, I didn't study and I only got a ninety five! How will I ever be able to explain this to my parents?!'

Serena and Molly both gave Melvin annoyed looks, how did he manage to get such grades without studying? They were sure of one thing, they weren't natural geniuses like Melvin. But even as Molly started getting irritated, Serena just started wailing again.

'Do we care?' Molly asked him sarcastically before noticing Serena's sobs.

'Maybe he's right!' she said between shaking breaths.

But Molly pulled on her arms, making Serena get to her feet before calming her down with the following words, 'We're going shopping! By the time you get home, your mum will have forgotten all about that dumb test!'

Serena sobered slightly, 'Do you really think so?'

'I know so!' Molly assured, 'I saw some major awesome boots on sale!'

At the promise of shopping Serena started to grin, 'We can get ice cream!'

'Then shop some more!'

'Can we look for some earrings?' Serena giggled.

'Good idea! We can go to my mum's jewelry store, she's got some major cool stuff, I mean wicked cool!' Molly babbled excitedly.

'I could use some new pink berets for my hair,' Serena said dreamily, and without even thinking about what she was doing, started picking out her braid and putting back into her usual odango style, 'I haven't been able to find any that are the right shape yet.'

Melvin started to look seriously off-put by Molly and Serena's excitement, even as Molly continued, 'Oh she's got all kinds of great things! You gotta see it! It'll blow you away! Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, all kinds of stuff, even some rhinestones!'

Serena's eyes started getting starry and dazed at this point, 'Rhinestones?! I love those!'

'She's got lots of 'em, in lots of colours!'

'Pink? And purple?'

'Oh like for sure!'

'Alright! What are we waiting for?! Let's go!' Serena shrieked in excitement.

Picking up her bag, Serena ran off with Molly, the two of them babbling to each other, leaving Melvin standing there, awkwardly reflecting on one thing he was having trouble accepting when it came to his crush on her, 'Serena, beautiful, but a shopaholic.'

...

There was darkness in this place, everything rang with an eerie vibe that would make any normal person thoroughly convinced that if they didn't get out of this place, they would soon meet their end. It was almost impossible to make out any definite features of the structure of the room, everything was bathed in shadows, the cold stone floor seemed to have tiny flecks of what was undoubtedly blood, glazing the surface. A cold, harsh wind tore through the room, whistling through the large construction, rattling what sounded like chain, and hissed as it bounced off the far spread walls.

But to say this room was empty would be a great misjudgment, there was only one half visible wall in the entire structure, and that was where a throne of strange black crystal sat, but even stranger was the women who sat atop it. Long auburn hair clung to her sides, not moving in the wind out of near fear of what even the hair follicles knew she did to anyone who got in her way. Her cold eyes were sharp and vindictive, the whites of her eyes were yellowed, only bringing out her off red irises and white pupils, which truly made her seem demonic. Her sharp features were angled in such a permanent way that it gave a constant look of cruelty, from her narrow but sharp nose and heavy brows to her small mouth and elfin ears. But despite the cruel face it was not to say she wasn't striking in a way, not quite a look of beauty, but other worldly and almost fascinating.

She seemed to look through the humanoid audience of people before her, seeming more intent on keeping her gaze fixated on the orb and the end of her staff. Purple energy swirled through the darkness within the globe, her hands moving around it seemed to constantly shape and redefine its shape and texture, her long fingernails never grazing against it, but still seeming to manipulate it somehow.

'The Great Metalia says it's time to attack the other dimension, to unleash the power of the Negaforce,' she said still fixated on the orb, every single word she said ringing through the room which was silent except for her, no syllable wasted.

There seemed to be a silent flurry among the things around her, not talking just exchanging excited glances. To call them human would be highly incorrect, very few of them could possibly pull that off looking how they did. A majority of them did have human-like features, but they were of so many different colours and shapes that they were almost like some sort of monster.

'But to do so, I shall require energy, yes a great deal of energy, we shall get it from the planet Earth. Shitennou!'

Four figures stepped forward at her command, they were the only ones among the horde of creatures who looked like humans. All of them were wearing dark grey uniforms, each fringed with a different colour, swords at their hips, all of them were admittedly quite handsome, but there was a look of twisted cruelty spread across their faces. The four men instantly bowed to their Queen, but it was the clear leader of the four who spoke first.

'Queen Beryl, what do you wish of us?' he asked, his cold blue eyes unwavering.

He was a tall man of obvious strength, with silvery-white hair that fell to his shoulders and strong facial features. His uniform was fringed lightly with the same ice blue of his eyes, his uniform carrying slight deviations to the others, by the slightly open shirt, and the long cape that fell from bejeweled pads on his shoulders. He had the air of an Arabian King, completely majestic in appearance, and even though his comrades didn't seem particularly close with one another or even him, they all seemed to look to him with an air of respect.

'Malachite,' Queen Beryl addressed him directly, but then indicated the others in turn, each seeming to meet her gaze with a clear starvation for her attention, 'Zoisite, Nephlite, Jadeite.'

They all gave nods as they were addressed, it was clear that in the end they all answered to her, 'As the Shitennou, you are my finest warriors. I shall leave it up to the four of you to take energy from Earth. Malachite, I expect you to select one of your men and send him to Earth, give them guidance if they need but I know all four of you even as a group would rather work alone.'

Malachite was clearly thinking, pondering the question before saying, 'Jadeite, the task is left with you.'

At these words another man stepped forward, he only appeared to be at the eldest eighteen, with sandy blonde hair cut considerably shorter than his companions, and probably younger then most of them as well. His eyes were a bright sparkling blue, but there was a clear look of shrewd vindictiveness, something was very obviously off when it came to him.

'I am honored for the opportunity my Queen,' he said with a deep bow, before he nodded to Malachite saying, 'And to you Malachite.'

'Very well Jadeite, do not fail me, make your plan Jadeite, I need that energy, get as much as you possibly can. What do you plan to do?' Queen Beryl asked, clearly testing him, seeming unsure of Malachite's choice in Jadeite.

'Yes my Queen, I shall find a place where humans expend great deals of energy, and then I shall place one of my Youma in the best position possible to capture it,' Jadeite said simply, but with a great deal of respect directed towards the Queen.

'Very well, Jadeite, do as you wish.'


	3. Crystal Space

Chapter 3: Crystal Space

'Come on in! Everyone's welcome! Make me an offer!'

Serena could hear Molly's mother's voice though the door of the building, as she and her best friend were forced to squeeze though a humongous crowd, Serena was instantly confused. Since when were there this many people in the store? Usually it was pretty quiet; there was always someone in the store, but never a crowd of this size. She was nearly knocked over by a girl from her school, and she was instantly confused as she noticed at least a dozen more girls from other local schools spread across the store. Since when could girls her age afford anything from here but the rhinestone jewelry?

'Oh this is so beautiful!'

'I have to have it!'

'This would look perfect with my new dress.'

'I think I have earrings to match this!'

The customers inside were wrapped in jewels, seeming to want to try everything on, with very little concern for how much it would actually turn out to be. The most elaborately decorated of all was a rather plump looking women in pink who had a ring on every finger, pearls around her neck and was now being fixated on the earring section. It was complete chaos in here and there in the middle of it stood Molly's mum with a megaphone. The resemblance between mother and daughter was remarkable, but at the same time Molly was looking at her like she didn't quite recognize her own mother.

'Molly what's going on?' Serena asked her, but Molly just looked around cluelessly like she had no idea.

'Welcome ladies! Here's your chance to own diamonds, sapphires everything in the store must go!' Molly's mother called into the megaphone.

'I don't get it, my mum's sure acting strange...' Molly said sounding quite concerned.

'Yeah, what did she put in her coffee this morning?' Serena asked, not quite seeming to understand how strange it was.

'Today only, everything in the store is ninety percent off! Please feel free to try on anything!' she called loudly, leaving Molly's expression to get more and more confused.

And with a slight whimper she couldn't help but say, 'What's going on in here?'

...

Jadeite sat in his quarters in the realm of the Negaverse, thinking on his plan, his new assignment under Queen Beryl. Unlike other beings from the Negaverse, he was held to the same laws of survival as humans, no matter how pathetic and pitiful he found them, he still needed to eat, drink and sleep to be able to survive. The Youma could simply survive without any sort of nutrients, but to achieve any sort of power all but the strongest needed some sort of exterior energy source.

As true as it was that Jadeite, as with all the Shitennou, had very little regard for the youma who had been assigned to his command, especially as he had some of the weakest of the group, but even so, his detest of the human race was thoroughly worse. He loathed them, they truly were pathetic. None of them would ever be able to progress to true power; they thought there was nothing outside themselves, selfish, vain and completely ignorant. They believed they were the only life in the endless realms of the cosmos, and those who believed otherwise, that they were not alone, were shunned for this belief. They were barely better than the ones who didn't believe though, he had heard of what they thought aliens were like, little green or grey men, each with misshapen heads, disproportionate bodies and a habit for abducting and dissecting humans.

They didn't realise that they looked just like them, but they were so much stronger. They didn't realise that the special abilities they would call magic or an illusion, or if they had the nerve a hoax, were just as easy as breathing to those who possessed them. They didn't realise that there would be no point in dissecting them, there wasn't anything they could learn from them, the only use they would have for them was they're realms of wasted energy for purposes so great they could never comprehend.

'Lord Jadeite,' a voice called, and his assistant, a youma by the name of Morga appeared before him.

Even for a Youma she was foul, her skin although almost a shade of human flesh, was shriveled and clung to her skeletal frame like a rotting corpse. Her eyes were hard to see in the humongous black holes where one would presume they should be. Her rib cage was far too easy to make out in her torn low cut dress. The rest of her skeletal frame was cloaked in the long black dress, the only colour other than her skin was in the bright red mark ingrained into her forehead.

'Your mission Morga?' he asked, not questioning why she was here.

'Your assumption of the human's greed rang true; the store is filled with pathetic humans fawning over the illusion gems you created. Their vanity and their greed is so intense, they don't see how they're compelled to remain in the store until it's at full capacity. How long do you wish me to wait until I drain their energy my lord?' she asked, her obvious adoration in her tone obvious.

He nodded slightly in approval making the Youma smile, before he said, 'Wait until nightfall, and unless someone should become suspicious before then, drain their energy and bring it to me. Abandon the store; leave no indication that we have anything to do with these events. Do you understand Morga?'

'I do Lord Jadeite, I do, but may I ask a question of you?' she breathed in awe.

He considered it for a second before eventually giving a curt nod, 'What is it that you wish to know?'

'Why is it that we must make sure our activities are hidden? No human knows of the Negaverse's existence, let alone our activity, what do we have to fear?' she asked, 'And even so, what could stop us?'

Jadeite considered the question, before deciding to give her a straight answer, to make sure she'd be careful, to make sure she knew how much risk there was in the situation, 'Do you remember Danburite's failure in England? He was constantly halted in his plans by that girl, Sailor V.'

'But my lord, I believed she was dead,' Morga began.

'Do not interrupt me,' he said flatly.

Morga's expression filled with a shame and she bowed deeply, hanging her head, 'I am sorry my lord.'

'Very well, do not let it happen again; now to my point. She has been killed as he gave his life to destroy her, but she might not be the only one. She could easily be part of a group, rather than a single pest. If there's more than one, you will have to be careful. You are more powerful than any of the Youma we gave to him, but we don't want to tip off any suspicions to those who could get in our way,' he said cooly.

'I will my lord, no one shall get in our way,' she said in an almost pleading tone, all youma were desperate to receive praise from the Shitennou.

'Very well,' he said once again, not giving her any indication that she'd earned his approval, because in truth, she hadn't, to him she was still merely a pawn, it was more than obvious that she was less than worthy of his regard, 'Bring me the energy at any cost Morga.'

'Yes Lord Jadeite, be assured that I will.'

…

'One more day Artemus, one more day,' Mina sighed from where she was flopped back on her bed, which by tomorrow night would be stripped of all its sheets.

'It's amazing how quickly they managed to get it organized for us to go,' Artemus commented, who was curled in a little ball on her stomach, 'Tomorrow night we get on a plane, and then we're on our way to Japan, and to think they only told you about this last night.'

'What are you implying Artie? That they're trying to get rid of me?' Mina laughed.

'That's a definite possibility.'

'Yeah, that's why every time mum sees me she gets all teary and hugs me for half an hour, it's you that they're trying to get rid of, no one needs a smart-mouthed, shedding hairball around clawing at the side of the couch and ripping the fabric when it sees a laser pointer. You're from the moon, aren't you supposed to be too smart to fall for that trick?' Mina giggled.

'And for the guardian of love and beauty you're dating average is pretty low,' Artemus retorted.

Mina knocked Artemus off her stomach and onto the floor, barely managing to land it, he glared up at her, only to be told, 'One more crack like that and I'm leaving you here with my parents, and then you'll have no one to talk to for three months.'

'You wouldn't dare! Who would give you advice during battles?! Who would wake you up in time to go to school? Who would-'

'Sit on my head until I agree to do my homework, and if I still refuse burry themselves in my hair so I have to spend three hours brushing it to get all the knots out?' Mina asked innocently, a teasing smile playing on her face.

Artemus just smirked up at her, it had been a long time since either one had been able to stay mad at the other for more than an hour, 'Precisely.'

…

Molly was staring at her mother, completely weirded out, unsure of how she was supposed to react. She was staring at her mother like she was some sort of alien. Serena knew Mrs. Baker very well, but at the same time, she wasn't quite as weirded out as she should be, it just didn't occur to her that something could be wrong. She just guessed it was a mood swing, not seeming to realise the stuff she was giving away for practically free were worth a small fortune.

'Mama!' Molly called out.

Molly's mum seemed completely alarmed by her daughter's appearance as she whipped around, 'Molly dear! I didn't realise you'd be home so early! I thought you said you were going shopping.'

'Oh we were, but Serena and I came to check out some-'Molly began, still seeming concerned, until Serena's enthusiasm cut her off.

'Rhinestone Jewelry!' Serena blurted out.

'Rhinestones? Don't be silly now girls, help yourself to some _diamonds_ instead, there are plenty to go around!' Molly's mum insisted.

'Diamonds?!' Serena blurted out happily.

'Why yes! Any friend of Molly's deserves nothing but the best!' she replied, with the weird sound of someone in the midst of a sales pitch.

'I can't believe this! I totally can't believe this!' Serena trilled excitedly, rocking back on forth on her heels, even as Molly looked more and more surprised and worried.

Molly's mum lead them towards the other side of the store, going around one side of the counter, before unlocking the case and pulling out an amazing glittering diamond, 'Here Serena, would you like to try on this ring?'

'Wow, would I!? Serena breathed, leaning closer, unable to miss the long trail of zeros on the price tag, and the completely alarmed expression on Molly's face.

'It's a flawless twenty carat diamond, for you ten dollars!' she said warmly like it wasn't a big deal.

'TWENTY CARATS TEN DOLLARS?!' Serena and Molly spat out, both of them seeming to agree this was just far too much to think everything was okay.

But the moment this was out of their mouths they were nearly crushed to death by the swarm of customers who had heard them. They were forced to crawl out bit by bit on their hands and knees till they reached the edge of the crowd.

'Serena this is way weird!' Molly said as she pulled herself to her feet.

'What's up with your mum Molly? I've never seen her like this before!' Serena wondered aloud.

Molly's response came out in a slight whisper as she muttered, 'I don't know, but I'm worried.'

'...Hmm... This place is way weird Molly, what's going on?'

'Where are you going?' Molly asked recognizing the tone.

'I think I'll take a nap before showing my mum my grades,' Serena sighed.

Molly seemed to be on the brink of begging her to stay but just shook her head sadly, 'Alright, I'll see you tomorrow.'

Serena trailed outside; her pigtails drooped even further than usual, thoughts of the chaos of the jewelry store already leaving her mind, as she began thinking about what her mother would say about this. She had told her mother that she studied, which she had attempted, but somehow got caught up in reading a Sailor V comic book instead.

'Oh no, how can I tell mum I flunked another test?' she moaned to herself, pulling it out of her book bag, before staring at it for a second before crumpling it up, 'Ah! How can I show her this thing!?'

She flung the test over her shoulder not even noticing as it hit someone near by hard on the head, before moaning loudly to herself, not noticing all as she walked away until she head someone yell after her, 'Hey! Watch it Meatball Head!'

'Huh?'

Serena turned around only to see one of the most attractive guys she had seen in her life. A tall, well built frame with obvious muscles, messy dark hair that somehow looked controlled. He was older then her, that much was clear, but she couldn't help but notice his looks. She was so distracted by this she didn't even notice him uncrumpling the paper.

'Oh sorry-'

'A thirty? Admirable,' he sighed, even as she squeaked in alarm, 'Are you stupid or just incredibly lazy?' he asked lowering the paper, his face still hidden behind a large pair of sunglasses.

Serena may have been a bit of a ditz but she was not going to take that, especially not from a stranger, 'Ha, how dare you! Give me that!' she demanded snatching it from his hand, as as she walked off she ranted to herself, 'The nerve of that guy, what a total jerk calling me a meatball head!.. Still... sure is cute.'

The last bit was muttered to herself, well out of his ear shot as she walked off, but she didn't notice as she left the man took off his sunglasses, revealing ocean like eyes as he stared after her murmuring to himself, 'There's something about that girl.'

...

As she walked up the high street, Serena couldn't help but notice the poster outside the video arcade of Sailor V, and instantly she doubled back to get a better look at it, 'Oh! The new Sailor V video game... ah...'

As she stared at the poster she couldn't help but notice how young Sailor V looked, she couldn't be much different in age then she was. But she was pretty, she was cool and smart and dedicated and the whole world besides those of evil loved her!

'I wish I could be like Sailor V she's so beautiful and smart, something exciting is always happening in her life, not like mine,' Serena sighed absent mindedly, not even noticing the cat was watching her again, before she exhaled deeply, 'Who am I kidding? I'll never be like Sailor V, not with grades like this! Mum's gonna blow a gasket when she sees this.'

And before she could help herself she began wailing like a baby, 'What am I going to do?!' and taking a few dramatic breaths she began walking down the street still blubbering.

But even as she disappeared, she once again failed to notice what was going on behind her back, she didn't notice the cat step forward and in perfect human speech say, 'I can't believe it! This crybaby? She's the one?'

* * *

Hello all my lovely readers;

I, Princess Selina, made a pledge to update all my individual stories today, and I managed to complete my task. All four fanfictions have been updated, and if you like my writing style, if you like how I tell my stories, then go check out;

The Phoenix

The Eclipse Islands

Eclipsed By Fate

Or in other news, see my original story (co-authored with Allison Shorecoat) and my brand new obsession, **_Zero Hour_**, look us up as "Knowing What Fuzzy Means" on Fictionpress, Readwave and NovelJoy, as well as under "Fuzzywuzzywoo," on Wattpad. Whichever site is to your taste, go check it out.

Lots of love

Please do review

Princess Selina


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